Theory of a Pilot's Life
by Latinpro
Summary: Wes Janson gets a little more than he bargained for with a new recruit to Wraith Squadron.


Theory of A Pilot's Life

A/N: Just when I said that I wouldn't write anymore SW fics, I start getting all these ideas for them. (Maybe this should be a new kind of writing motivation…?) If you like the Rogues and the Wraiths, you'll like this. Is it just me or is there a disturbing shortage of Rogue Squadron/Wraith Squadron fics? Rui and Cassis are mine, Janson and the others (no matter how much I want to own them) aren't mine...yet.

Timeframe: Sometime between _Wraith Squadron and __Iron Fist_

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Part I: 

The Flight Officer and the Lieutenant

"Wraith One, all systems ready."

            "Wraith Two, all systems ready."

            "Wraith Three, all systems green."

            "Wraith Four, ready and willing." The com headpiece, orders from control, crackled in their ears.

"This is Control. Launch is in sixty. Your objective is to defend the _Battle of Endor, a capital ship on the horizon of Falor. There are incoming eyeballs and squints. Engage and hold them twenty klicks from the __Battle. Control out." Wraith Three nervously watched the chrono count down from sixty to zero as anticipation welled inside her. The chrono hit zero and the four X-wings shot out of the tube into space. "Two," came the voice of Wraith One, quite possibly Face Loran or Myn Donos, "on me. We're going to engage any eyeballs or squints out here. Three, Four, do a flyby over the __Battle and draw any TIEs away from it."_

            "Acknowledged, One. C'mon Four, let's give them a big Wraith hello."

            "Right with ya, Three." Three checked the X-wing's HUD and saw that Four was listed as Tyria Sarkin, One was Face Loran, and Two was Ton Phanan. Well good. She knew who she was flying with. She flicked her com on and hailed Tyria. "Four, do you see TIEs by the _Battle?"_

            "Negative Three. I don't think they've gotten that far yet." Three confirmed the visual over the com to Face. "One, the _Battle is secure. Repeat, __Battle is secure."_

            "Roger that, Three. We've got incoming squints at mark two point five eight seven. We're going to need you two back over here." Three changed her heading to 2.587 and encouraged more speed out of her ship. "Roger that, One. They're free atoms in approximately four seconds." When she and Tyria arrived to backup Face and Phanan, twelve TIE Interceptors swooped out of nowhere and began strafing the four Wraiths. After a few minutes, the battle was an obvious victory for Wraith Squadron. Three checked her radar and saw that several were coming up on Two. She vaped one and watched as if in slow motion one coming toward her. It slammed into her starboard side, knocking down her shielding significantly and blowing the Interceptor up too close to her ship for comfort. Half of the Interceptor hit another nearby TIE, creating a repetitive effect. Face was on the com in a matter of seconds. "Three, what was that?"

            "A squint hit me on the side. Shielding down to 30. I can hold."

            "Are you injured?"

            "Ah, I don't think so. I got slammed around. Probably bruises only."

            "If you can't go on, pull out."

            "Negative One. I'm fine." Control hailed them over the com. "Good job Wraiths. You've successfully completed this run. Return to base." Of course, there was no base to return to- only a simulator to exit. Lieutenant Wes Janson was waiting for the four of them in the muster area near the sims. "Excellent work. One, you had four kills." The former actor grinned. Janson continued. "Two, you had three kills. Four, you had one kill. Three," Janson stopped and grinned at the newest pilot, "you also had four kills and invented your own maneuver. What do you call it? The Stargazer Domino Effect?" The woman known to the others only as Three grinned. "No sir, that was simply pure, dumb luck." Janson looked over at the others and back at Three. "Have you met our newest recruit yet? This is Flight Officer Cassis Stargazer from Tatooine. Cassis, this is Face Loran, that's Ton Phanan, and this is Tyria Sarkin." Tyria shook Cassis' hand with a grin. "Good. I'm not the only woman now." Janson checked his records. "This was your first time in the sim, right Cassis?"

            "Yes, sir." Tyria's eyes grew wide. "That your first time ever in a sim?"

            "Well, as a Wraith. I was in a simulator a few times in Yellow Squadron, but it was a while ago."

            "And you had four kills. Just now. And you've been out of practice."

            "I suppose." Face shook his head. "Amazing." 

Janson grinned over at Face. "Yub, yub, Mr. Loran." Cassis raised an eyebrow. " 'Yub, yub?'"

            "Inside joke. I'll tell you sometime later."

A week afterwards, Cassis Stargazer had been working on her fighter not even one minute before she almost fell to her death or serious injury. A vital piece of machinery, her calibrator, had slid off the nose and she had forgotten that she was approximately three meters above the floor of the hangar when she attempted to grab it. The calibrator had clattered on the floor- Cassis was left hanging with all her grip from the nose of the X-wing. And there she stayed. Ten minutes passed before someone finally walked in and found her in the awkward position. "Flight Officer Stargazer." Cassis looked over at the amused voice and wished she could melt. "Lieutenant Janson."

            "You look like you could use some help there."

            "Yes, sir."

            "Did you always swing from the nose of your fighter in Yellow Squadron?" Cassis looked down into her superior's eyes miserably. "No sir. I was working on my X-wing and the calibrator fell and I tried to grab it and-"

            "Say no more. I'm just giving you a hard time. Here. Let go and I'll see if I can't catch you."

            "But sir! It's too far! I'll break your arm!"

            "Stargazer, you're starting to sound like a protocol droid. Don't worry about me unless you want to spend the night there." Cassis let go and dropped down into Janson's waiting arms. "That wasn't too bad. And besides," Janson said with an almost rakish grin, "I always wanted to do that." He gave her wink and set her down carefully by the devious calibrator. Cassis felt her heart pounding and trying to beat out of her chest as she leaned over and picked up her tools. Janson watched her, his trademark smile still in use. "I can only imagine what Commander Antilles would have said or done. You need any help with that?"

            "No sir. I think that I'm just going to leave it alone for a little while and regain my nerves."

            "I'm on my way to DownTime. Come with me; I'll buy you a drink. We can get the rest of the squadron to toast your first brush with death as a Wraith."

            "I think I'll accept that offer. No offence, lieutenant-who-just-saved-me, but are you always this..._informal with new recruits?" Janson shrugged. "You can't look dignified when you're having fun. Remember that."_

DownTime was currently home to all but three members of Wraith Squadron and more than a few Rogues. "So," Wes Janson said with ease, "what would you have done if I hadn't decided to take a stroll through the hangar?" Cassis stared into the drink Janson had bought her. "Probably stay there."

            "Why?"

            "Cause no one ever notices me. I'm invisible. If I didn't screw up so much, Intel would have probably wanted me for a spy."

            "_I don't think you're invisible." Cassis looked up at him. He pressed on. "What makes you think that you are?"_

            "My sister!" Cassis exclaimed with more passion than she intended. "It's not that she's responsible, it's everyone else. I'm never just Cassis Stargazer, I have to be known as Ruiana's sister. I can't make a name for myself. Ruiana got me into the Starfighter Command but all the commanders kept comparing me to her. It seemed like the harder I tried, the more I kept letting everyone down. And they never let me fly very many missions because I think they didn't want to face Rui's wrath if I was ever hurt."

            "So you live in your sister's shadow."

            "Yes. But I'm glad I was accepted into Wraith Squadron. This is my last chance to prove that I can do something right. I know that you and Commander Antilles took a big chance letting me in here when everyone else considers me a liability. Like today. Not one of my other commanding officers would have helped me down, much less offer to help. I would have gotten a citation or some punishment duty. So thanks." Cassis felt relief, shame, and suspicion of Janson's motives all rolled into one when she finished. He looked her in the eye. "You're quite welcome. I'll be right back, so don't go anywhere. Squeaky's going to have a conniption fit- it'll be fun." With horror, Cassis watched Janson rise, stand up on a vacant table next to theirs, and call for attention by the light of a lomin-ale sign. "Hey Wraiths! This is Cassis Stargazer, formerly of Yellow Squadron! She's now Wraith Three and had her first near death experience today!" At this, the other pilots all cheered and applauded. "Hey," Janson said down to his newest victim, "come on up here."

            "No way."

            "C'mon. Your public awaits." With much hesitation, Cassis got up and stood on the table with Lieutenant Janson. She gave a shy wave and got back down. When Janson rejoined her, he gave her a merry grin. "Still glad you're a Wraith?"

            "Yub, yub, Lieutenant."

When Wedge Antilles and Wes Janson had called for the rejects and castoffs for Wraith Squadron a week or so prior, Captain Kalt of Yellow Squadron had appeared personally. "Commander Antilles, I'm in quite a position."

            "Go on, Captain."

            "I have a pilot that I don't know what to do with. She's talented but clumsy. She has potential but doesn't apply it. I'm afraid that if I let her go on a mission, something will go wrong around her and it will result in the lives of my pilots. She attracts disaster."

            "So what's the position?"

            "She's the sister of Captain Ruiana Stargazer. Captain Stargazer personally made sure that her sister became a snubfighter pilot. Don't misunderstand me- the girl has talent. I'm sure that she could become great one day. But as for right now, she is a liability."

            "We'll interview this pilot and see how she does. What is her name?"

            "Flight Officer Cassis Stargazer." Wedge nodded. "She's on our list." Kalt excused himself, leaving Janson and Wedge to talk among themselves. "Call her up," Wedge decided. "Let's see what she has to say." Wes spoke into his com and relayed the order. Ten minutes later, a woman entered Commander Antilles' office. Her brown hair was dripping wet and pulled into a hasty queue that was coming loose around her face. Wedge smiled at her flustered salute and motioned toward an empty chair. "Please sit down, Flight Officer Stargazer. I'm Commander Wedge Antilles and this gentleman is Lieutenant Wes Janson. You've been recommended for placement in Wraith Squadron by Captain Kalt. Captain Kalt says that you have a superior knowledge of mechanics and hydraulics. So why aren't you a crew chief or a mechanic instead of a pilot?"

            "Sir," Cassis began timidly, "mechanics comes naturally to me. In fact, I do my own maintenance on my ship. But I'd rather be up there flying. I feel like I belong up there. Anyone can tighten a nut or weld something back together. But as a pilot someone can really be doing something. I feel like I'm a part of the New Republic when I'm out with the squadron." Wedge raised an eyebrow. "How many missions have you been in?" The commander noticed a flicker of shame run over her face. "Two, sir."

            "Do you happen to know why you've flown so few missions, Flight Officer?"

            "No sir."

            "Thank you. That will be all. You can wait outside." Cassis rose, saluted, and left. Wes turned to Wedge. "I think she'd fit in well."

            "I believe that you're right. The one thing that bothers me is her lack of experience."

            "I can run her through the simulator." Wedge nodded. "Let's find out how good she is."

Janson entered Wedge's office after he and Cassis returned from DownTime and sat down across from the commander. "Stargazer's good. Very, very good. I'm impressed. A week ago, when we put her through the first sim run, she had four kills, equal to that of Face. Today, when I ran her again in a different scenario, she scored three kills and had the highest accuracy rate out of the four in the simulators." Wedge looked over Cassis' file. "If she's this good, why did Kalt want her out so badly?" Wes made a little grimace. "Well, I found that out too. When I heard she was doing maintenance on her X-wing, I went to check on her. She'd slipped, fallen, and was hanging from her ship."

            "Must have been quite a sight."

            "I think that she's just nervous right now, really. And from what her file says, she's a great slicer. Even she said that Intel would have taken her if she wasn't so uncoordinated. And Captain Stargazer's sister." Wedge looked up from the file and up at Janson. "Does that bother her?"

            "Yes, but I think that it makes her even more determined to show that she's every bit as good as her. Of course, considering Rui's control of her Force abilities, it's going to be difficult, if not impossible." Wedge leaned back and propped his boots on his desk. 

"How did the others receive her?"

"Pretty well. I doubt there'll be any conflict."

"She's in. Inform Captain Kalt that we're putting the transfer for Flight Officer Stargazer in today." Janson put his best hurt expression on. "Wedge, do I look like your errand boy?"

"Wes, you look like my second-in-command, so yes. Get to it." 

"I'm proud of you, Cass, I really am. It's good that you're under Commander Antilles now, and that you're getting a chance to do something."

            "Thanks, Rui."

            "So how's training going?"

            "Lieutenant Janson says that I'm doing quite well and that I'll be put on active duty for the Wraiths within a few days." Over the holo linkup, on some distant base, Captain Ruiana Stargazer smiled at her younger sister. "When are you going to tell Mom and Dad?"

            "Soon. As soon as I get spare time. Speaking of which, how did you get away from everything and make time for this?"

            "Sis, when you're a squadron leader, you're allowed to pull things like this off. Within a few years, I think you'll be heading one up yourself."

            "You, uh, _Jedi that out of the Force?" Cassis regretted her words as soon as she heard them. A distant look came over Rui's face. "Always in motion is the future," she murmured almost automatically. "Hey, Rui, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it to come out like that. You know how I am- open mouth, insert foot." Rui looked up at her with a false smile and shrugged. Cass knew then that she had insulted her sister, and it was doubly bad since she knew Rui received a lot of denunciation about being Force sensitive. "Ah, it's all right, Cassis. I'm sure you've got more important things to do that sit around and talk to me. Tell me when you get leave, and we'll go back to Tatooine for a little while, okay?"_

            "Okay."

            "May the Force be with you, Cass."

            "May the Force be with you, Rui." Cassis turned the projector off and sighed. The hurt in Ruiana's eyes had been real. _Score one my ego._

Wedge had been sitting in his office relaxing after a training run when Janson burst through his door, an anxious look on his red-from-running face. "Wedge! Bad news!" Wedge jumped out of his seat, halfway toward Janson. "Wes, what is it? If it's got _you worked up like this-"_

              "Wedge, we need to be down there with the Wraiths now! The fighters have been scrambled and we need to get to our X-wings-" Wedge zipped up his flightsuit and turned back to Janson. "Wes, tell me. _What is happening?" Wes Janson looked into Wedge's eyes, all traces of humor or merriment devoid from his face. "We're under attack."_


End file.
